Oldson claims the S.C. Department of Mental Health and the S.C. Department of Disabilities and Special Needs debated which agency’s responsibility it was to help the mentally-challenged patient, leaving him stranded in ER.

"I've never seen anyone stay there as long as Jesse,” Oldson said. “He is witness to all the violence, the chaos, the absolute rush of activity that goes on day and night in that emergency room. He doesn't need to see it. It is no good for him."

Oldson said when Jesse arrived at the emergency room in October 2012, she began making phone calls to various agencies, thinking one of them would come to the young man’s rescue.

Oldson said she called the Greenville Department of Mental Health first, because Jesse appeared to be schizophrenic.

Oldson said this went on for weeks because the two agencies couldn’t agree on his diagnosis.

Eventually, Oldson hired a neuropsychologist to have Jesse tested, hoping it would settle the argument.

“I got him officially evaluated and guess what? He was both mentally retarded and schizophrenic,” she said.

Oldson said the Department of Mental Health eventually agreed to take Jesse’s case, but left him in the emergency room of Greenville Memorial Hospital. She said DDSN still insisted he didn’t qualify for their services, even after her own testing showed “mild mental retardation.”

"It's so fragmented and so difficult to understand sometimes that families just keep going round and round on the carousel," said P&A attorney Anna Maria Darwin.

This week, four days ahead of our story, DMH moved Jesse out of the emergency room and into a temporary residential facility near Columbia. Oldson said the move would not have taken place without the involvement of WYFF News 4.

Still, Oldson said there are questions to be answered.

"I think the taxpayers should hold these agencies accountable. If they’re going to help somebody, do it. If not, tell us why," she said.

THINK OF THE LAST TIME YOU WENT TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM. HOW LONG WERE YOU THERE? ...AN HOUR? ... TWO HOURS? AT GREENVILLE MEMORIAL, ONE MAN'S E-R VISIT LASTED NINE MONTHS.. UNTIL WE GOT INVOLVED. TONIGHT, NEWS 4'S TIM WALLER WITH THE EXCLUSIVE STORY.. OF HOW THE STATE DRAGGED ITS FEET ON FINDING THIS PATIENT A HOME. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A SPECIAL PATIENT, NIGEL AND GABRIELLE. "JESSE" IS NOT ONLY MENTALLY-CHALLENGED.. HE IS DIAGNOSED WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA. HE WAS DROPPED OFF AT THE E-R 9 MONTHS AGO.. AND NEITHER OF THE AGENCIES PAID TO HELP PEOPLE LIKE JESSE.. WERE WILLING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. IN A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE GO TO GET TREATED AND, HOPEFULLY, RELEASED WITHIN A FEW HOURS... ...THERE IS A YOUNG MAN WHO MAY IN FACT HOLD THE RECORD.. FOR THE LONGEST VISIT TO AN EMERGENCY ROOM. Tim: "He just showed up one day." "Right." "And has been there ever since." "And has been there ever since." DR. TERESSA OLDSON.. AN E-R PHYSICIAN.. SAYS "JESSE" HAS LIVED HERE SINCE OCTOBER OF LAST YEAR. Tim: "How unusual is it to have someone living in the emergency room for this length of time?" "I've never seen anyone stay there as long as Jesse. This is wrong. It's wrong on so many levels." SHE SAYS THAT'S BECAUSE JESSE, WHO HAS SPECIAL NEEDS... ...HAS A FRONT-ROW SEAT TO ALL THAT GOES ON HERE. "He is witness to all of the violence, the chaos, the absolute rush of activity that goes on day and night in that emergency room. He doesn't need to see it. It is no good for him." "Oldson did what any E-R doctor would do in a case like this. She picked up the phone and started calling around...to see if there was an agency that could help Jesse and, perhaps, find him a more suitable home. But Oldson says no one was willing." Tim: "Who'd you call?" "Department of Mental Health. Department of Disabilities and Special Needs. The Department of Social Services." OLDSON CALLED THE GREENVILLE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH FIRST.. BECAUSE JESSE APPEARED TO BE SCHIZOPHRENIC. Tim: "What happened?" "Nothing." "Department of Mental Health said, 'No, he's mentally retarded. Call Disability and Special Needs.'" THAT WAS HER NEXT CALL.. BUT AGAIN.. OLDSON.. AT 20 YEAR VETERAN OF THE E-R.. HIT A ROADBLOCK. Tim: "And what did or didn't they do?" "They didn't do anything." "Disability and Special Needs said, "No, he's schizophrenic. Call Department of Mental Health." OLDSON SAYS THIS WENT ON FOR WEEKS.. BECAUSE THE TWO AGENCIES COULDN'T AGREE ON A DIAGNOSIS. SO OLDSON HIRED HER OWN EXPERT TO SETTLE THE ARGUMENT ONCE AND FOR ALL. "So I got him officially evaluated and guess what? He was both, mentally retarded and schizophrenic." OLDSON SAYS THE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH EVENTUALLY AGREED TO ACCEPT JESSE'S CASE.. BUT NEVER PLACED HIM ANYWHERE. THE DEPARTMENT OF DISABILITIES AND SPECIAL NEEDS REFUSED TO ACCEPT HIM.. EVEN AFTER OLDSON'S TESTING SHOWED "MILD MENTAL RETARDATION." "They're mincing the numbers. They're saying, 'No, he's not mentally retarded. He's pervasive developmental disorder or something." DISABILITIES AND SPECIAL NEEDS WOULD NOT SPEAK TO US ON CAMERA.. BUT A SPOKESWOMAN INSISTED.. IF JESSE QUALIFIED FOR THEIR SERVICES.. HE WOULD'VE BEEN OUT OF THE E-R AND IN THEIR CARE IN LESS THAN A WEEK. THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH IN COLUMBIA DID TALK TO US.. THOUGH NOT SPECIFICALLY ABOUT JESSE'S CASE. Tim: "When a patient is in the emergency room for 9 months, a patient, has that patient fallen through the cracks?" "Well, without speaking specifically to this case and given the length of time you're giving me in your hypothetical, yeah, there's something going on there that needs to be looked into." WE TOLD BINKLEY ABOUT DR. OLDSON'S CALLS TO HIS AGENCY AND D-D-S-N.. AND GETTING BOUNCED BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE TWO. "Ping-ponged." Tim: "Does it happen?" "It does happen and it's unfortunate when it happens." IT HAPPENS A LOT.. SAYS WATCHDOG AGENCY PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY.. WHICH POINTS TO OUR STATE'S "FRAGMENTED SYSTEM." "It's so fragmented and it's so difficult to understand sometimes that families just keep going round and round on the carousel." Tim: "Until they give up." "Until they give up or until they become the best advocates in the world." FOR JESSE.. WHO WE'RE TOLD HAS NO LIVING RELATIVES.. CHALLENGING THE SYSTEM WILL BE DIFFICULT AT BEST. "There's no one advocating for Jesse. There is no home. There is no family." "I think the taxpayers should hold these agencies accountable. If you're going to help somebody, do it. If not, tell us why." SINCE FEBRUARY, JESSE HAS BEEN SCHEDULED TO BE MOVED INTO A GROUP HOME IN MAULDIN.. BUT THAT HOME ISN'T READY..... IN FACT, THE EARLIEST TARGET DATE FOR THE MOVE WAS LATE JULY OR EARLY AUGUST. BUT JUST 3 DAYS AGO.. THE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH MOVED HIM FROM THE E-R AT GREENVILLE MEMORIAL TO A TEMPORARY HOME NEAR COLUMBIA.. AFTER WE STARTED DIGGING INTO THIS STORY. JESSE'S 9 MONTH E-R STAY IS OVER. SO WHY DID IT TAKE THESE AGENCIES SO LONG TO STEP UP? WELL, FIRST THEY HAD TO DECIDE WHICH AGENCY HE FALLS UNDER. THE DEPARTMENT OF DISABILITIES AND SPECIAL NEEDS CONCLUDED EARLY ON HE DIDN'T QUALIFY FOR THEIR SERVICES.. WHICH DR. OLDSON STILL DISPUTES. THE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH DID TAKE HIS CASE.. BUT LEFT HIM IN THE E-R. THE OFFICIAL I SPOKE TO SAYS HIS AGENCY HAS TAKEN A 40- PERCENT CUT IN THEIR BUDGET IN THE LAST 4 YEARS.. AND SAYS HOUSING HAS TAKEN THE BIGGEST HIT.

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